Content Filtering
Essentials for K-12

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Schools around the globe struggle to achieve the right internet balance: they want to give theirstudents access to the incredible research and educational opportunities available on the web,and they also want to keep them safe from dangerous or inappropriate content as well as phishers
and predators.

Kids are attempting to access inappropriate or dangerous
content at school every day: In New Zealand, schools recently
reported that they had blocked 399 million attempts to accessinappropriate content in one month. 1
And now that school-issued devices go home —outside of theschool’s firewall— schools need some mechanism in place thatblocks access to inappropriate websites from their devices, noIn this guide, we’ll discuss:
What online content puts students at risk and why
it’s important to actively protect them
The nuances and scenarios that warrant a flexible
and customized approach to content filtering

matter where students use them.

How to educate and empower your students on
Digital CitizenshipThis means that schools must address student safety on many

And how Jamf can help youfronts. This guide is meant to help schools navigate this process.

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Why filter?
So many reasons.

3Student protection

Student focus and productivity

Legal restrictions on student online access varies from country

While restricting social media access at school canto country, but they all fall into similar categories:

prevent cyberbullying, it can also help keep students
focused on school. This helps students to learn more

Pornographic or obscene content

and increase their productivity and involvement in class.

Hate speech, violent or radicalizing sites
Sites encouraging self harm, suicide or anorexia
Phishing or predators
Cyberbullying	
Removing distractions such as social media and games
Gambling sites
According to the Worldwide Health Organization, suicide is thefourth leading cause of death globally among 15-19 year-olds.2
And with anywhere between 47-60% (depending on age) of all
school-aged students being cyberbullied,3 protecting students
from this type of online danger can literally save lives.

4It’s often the law
In 2000, the United States Congress passed theChildren’s Internet Protection Act, tying E-rate program
discounts to a school’s internet safety policy.
In England and Wales, the Department for Education
issued statutory guidance “Keeping Children Safe inEducation” in 2015, which requires schools in England toensure appropriate filters and monitoring systems.
A similar rule exists in Scotland.4
Similar measures are enforced in full or in part on every
continent (excluding Antarctica, for obvious reasons).

System security
A filter that blocks malware, adware and spyware keeps
students safe. It keeps your school’s network secure,
as well.

Monitoring and reporting
Parents need to have the reassurance that students aren’t
accessing content they want to keep them from, andschools must monitor their networks to keeping data andEnsure that your school selects security tools that provide
endpoint protection and network threat prevention such asJamf Protect and Jamf Safe Internet. These should include
protections for known viruses, behavioral analytics to find andisolate new dangers and thorough reporting. Ensure the tool
you choose also has an involved community such as Jamf

students protected.

Nation or Jamf Educator where you can share best practices

But this has to be balanced with privacy protections andCombine it with a comprehensive mobile device management

should be done without granular inspections of individual(MDM) solution like Jamf School or Jamf Pro, and you’ll be set.

devices. This whole plan should be a transparent processof collecting anonymized data and presenting it to security
professionals, parents and administrators.

5and get advice from others also striving for student success.

Why not just block everything?
Statistics about vulnerable students could make parents
and educators see locking down absolutely everythingas an attractive prospect. But this can be a problem ina number of ways.
Teachers and students need access to sites that some schools may block in an
overzealous attempt to protect students and preserve class time. YouTube or Googleservices, for instance, are part of many classrooms. Teachers who want to educate
students on current events, social movements and many other topics find themselves
frustrated when they are unable to access that educational content, and frustrated bya lack of ability to easily collect assignments digitally.
But unfettered access to these services can be a problem as well — you’ll need a content
filtering solution like Jamf Safe Internet that can filter in a more sophisticated fashion thansimply by the domain name in order to both protect and educate students.

No filtering system is perfect. Someone has to find malware or phishing sites and add themto block lists, and unfortunately new sites are being created every day.
That’s why preparing students for their futures on unrestricted devices should be a vital part ofeveryone’s education. Young adults who already understand the potential dangers and know
how to avoid harm will be safer online than those who were completely insulated from theinternet by totally restricted access.

6Students as Digital Citizens
A part of any student’s education should include how

If teachers are looking for a place to get started

to avoid phishing, malware, misleading information

on helping students take ownership of their digitaland more while on the internet — even after they

lives, we suggest the free ready-to-teach lessons,leave schools and content filters.

curriculum and ideas at Common Sense Education’s

Educating and training savvy digital citizens should beembedded within curricula and shape pedagogy. This
includes how to understand what a reliable sourceis through a combination of critical thinking skills,
education on what is and is not a trustworthy source—
and the ability to avoid phishing and other scams.

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Digital Citizenship program. Common Sense, a UnitedStates-based nonprofit organization dedicated toimproving the lives of all kids and families, createdthese lessons in partnership with Project Zero at theHarvard Graduate School of Education. The lessons
are divided into grades/age groups.

How to find the right filtering and security solution
How can you determine which solution is best for your school? Start with asking potential vendors thefollowing six questions:	Does it filter all devices, including

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How does this solution keep
parents involved?

Chromebook, iPad and Mac?
How about BYOD devices?

While some parents might question the need for filtering at all,Solutions need to have full coverage in your school.

others may feel very anxious about any permeability whatsoever.

A filtering system is only as good as its weakest wall.

Offering a parent the ability to see into the activity of their child’sdays through an app like Jamf Parent —as well as offering clear

2How does it defend fromunknown attackers?

Ensure that whatever system you use incorporates
behavioral analytics and real-time alerts to catch unknown
sites or malware, like Jamf Protect. Behavioral analytics
can stop malicious actions by understanding how malware
and dangerous sites take certain actions or use certain
phrases.

and detailed reports on security and privacy concerns such as
those offered by Jamf — can help.

5How does it filter student
devices off-site?

You want to ensure that whatever solution you choose, it
incorporates filters and management for student devices athome, as well as school: just as Jamf School does. And it’s evenbetter if parents can increase the filters and management in aneasy-to-use app like Jamf Parent.

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Can it provide partial blocking on sites
like YouTube or Google services?

YouTube and Google have become powerful learning
tools, but can also offer a gateway to unfiltered content.
You need a tool that ensures that Google Safe Searchand YouTube Retricted mode are in place and can not be
removed by the end user.

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How will it interface with myother solutions?

A filtering and security solution that can work seamlessly with anMDM provider and can partner with trusted vendors to offer not
only world-class security but also increased educational options
gives you a lot more for your money.

How can Jamf help?
Jamf provides solutions that both manage and secure your Apple technology.
Beyond mobile device management, Jamf provides tools that support from an admin
level through to parents, all while empowering students to succeed.

Empowering IT and educators with efficient Apple management

Jamf Safe Internet
Endpoint protection,
purpose-built for Mac

JamfTeacher

Jamf SchoolStudent

Customer education tosupport Jamf Teacher app

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Purpose built content filtering andthreat defense for education

JamfParent

JamfAssessment

Valuable integrations that
extend the Jamf platformJamf and Jamf Safe Internet can be an important tool in keeping students safe
while maintaining privacy:
Jamf Safe Internet protects the end user, regardless of device as it supports both MacOS, iOS and ChromeOS	Jamf Protect supports unknown attacks using analytics to monitor devices

Jamf Safe Internet enforces the use of Google Safe search and YouTube restricted mode so users cant disable them
While Jamf Safe Internet is device-based and works beyond the school network, Jamf Parent also provides parents
with additional tools to help secure devices away from school	Respecting privacy: in addition to following all applicable rules and regulations regarding privacy, Jamf has signed theStudent Privacy Pledge, highlighting our commitment to protecting the information of students, parents and teachersin our schools

The seamless, integrated experience of Jamf Safe Internet
can add value to existing workflows in the Jamf Teacher, Jamf
School Student and Jamf Parent apps.

Request a Trial
Or contact your preferred reseller of hardware.

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